(108) “Do not revile those whom they invoke besides Allah, lest they revile Allah out of hostility and ignorance. Thus We have made every community’s deeds appealing to them. Then to their Lord is their return, and He will inform them of what they used to do.”

Allah forbids the believers from something that was originally permissible—indeed, prescribed—namely, reviling the gods of the polytheists: the idols and deities they had taken alongside Allah, which one draws nearer to Allah by humiliating and reviling. ⦗269⦘

However, since such reviling would lead the polytheists to revile the Lord of the worlds—whose majestic holiness must be declared free of every flaw, defect, insult, and disparagement—Allah forbade reviling their gods. This is because they are fiercely protective of their religion and fanatically devoted to it. Allah has made every community’s deeds appealing to them, so they regard them as good, champion them, and defend them by every means. They would even revile Allah, the Lord of the worlds—whose greatness is firmly established in the hearts of both the righteous and the wicked—if the Muslims reviled their gods.

Yet all creation will ultimately return to Allah on the Day of Resurrection. They and their deeds will be presented before Him, and He will inform them of the good and evil they used to do.

This noble verse provides evidence for the legal principle that means are judged according to the ends to which they lead. Thus, means to something prohibited—even if permissible in themselves—become prohibited when they lead to evil.